Review: New Utz Tabasco Spiked Cheese Popcorn

So Good Readers, good morning. It’s a sunny Monday here in DC, and I am, as always, Eric – your friendly neighborhood Junk Food Guy. I have a quick joke for all of you:

“What did the O say to the 8?”

…

“Nice belt.”

What can I say? I’m feeling giggly this Monday. Let’s get right to it – today’s junk food is: New Utz Tabasco Spiked Cheese Popcorn!

I stumbled on a whole SLEW of Utz snacks that were spiked with Tabasco last week. As I discussed in my Tabasco Spiked Cheese Curls review, there were four products – the cheese curls, potato chips, butter popcorn, and this snack, the cheese popcorn. Out of all the snacks, I am a sucker for cheesy items, so I naturally gravitated towards the cheese curls and this New Utz Tabasco Spiked Cheese Popcorn. Because really – cheese is ALWAYS BETTER than no cheese, wouldn’t you agree?

I mean, honestly though. I what situations would you DECLINE cheese? And I’m not talking absurdly like “Oh, I’d decline cheese on my ice cream.” Of course you would, but we’re also not discussing scenarios like 12 year olds. I’ll always take fries WITH cheese than without. I’ll always take pasta WITH cheese than without. Tacos with a little bit of Queso Blanco? YES YES YES. Without? WHY???

FYI one serving of this New Utz Tabasco Spiked Cheese Popcorn has 14% of my daily saturated fat. WOW.

The ingredient list for this New Utz Tabasco Spiked Cheese Popcorn seems a little long. I expected it to say “Corn. Tabasco. Cheese powder.” Maybe throw in a little bit of salt, onion powder, and garlic powder too.I always get a little nervous when popcorn snacks have so many ingredients. Someone explain to me why I need to be eating malic acid, which I’m pretty sure is what the Joker fell into that turned him INTO the Joker.

Once this bag of New Utz Tabasco Spiked Cheese Popcorn was opened, I took a bit sniff. Honestly, nothing discernibly Tabasco-ish.

Those who know me know I can’t just eat popcorn like a normal human being. I HAVE to grab a handful and cram it into my mouth until popcorn pieces are spilling out the sides of my cupped hand as it holds the mouthful in place while I press my jaws closed. I expect that many of you do the same thing. That’s why they invented bibs…I think. PS: I’m an adult.

After I crunched my first mouthful, I had to say – this New Utz Tabasco Spiked Cheese Popcorn was really pretty friggin’ good. Utz, you hit a home run with this snack. I was worried – my experience with the Tabasco Spiked Cheese Curls was less than impressive, as they were tangy but not vinegar-y enough, somewhat spicy but overwhelmed with tomato powder taste. The Cheese Curls were a thumbs down.

But this popcorn fulfilled EVERYTHING I wanted from it, and made up for the poor Cheese Curl performance. The popcorn was light and crisp; great texture and a soft crunch. And the cheesiness was perfect – nice and bright, sharp cheesy flavor with plenty of powder coverage. There wasn’t a popped kernel that didn’t have plenty of flavor.

And the Tabasco flavor? IT WAS THERE. Spicy and vinegar-y, I felt like I was eating cheese popcorn that had been tossed in Tabasco – GOOD BURN, and lots of bright spicy tangy notes. This wasn’t some amorphous “hot sauce” flavor that was added. It was, at least to me, distinctly Tabasco-ish.

I couldn’t stop eating it. My god, Utz, WHAT DID YOU DO??? Well, whatever you did – KEEP DOING IT. My hands were covered with cheese powder when I was done.

I’ll leave you with, Junk Food Nation – even after you’ve washed your hands of all the Tabasco powder…wait a while before trying to take out your contact lenses. Oof.